Veterans Day: ‘You put your life on the line'

Navy Cross makes Estates man most-decorated veteran in Collier

John Mausen, who spent nearly four years in the Navy, recently received the Legion of Valor award, an honor only obtained because he was also awarded the Navy Cross from his service in the Korean War. Currently only 2,322 veterans have been given the Legion of Valor award.

Daily News

John Mausen received the Navy Cross in Sept. 1953.

Daily News

Most of John Mausen's world now orbits around the gray leather recliner in the living room of his home in Golden Gate Estates.

In front of the chair is Mausen's television set, on which he watches The History Channel, The Discovery Channel and Christian programming.

If he swivels to the right, he sees a hanging framed picture of himself and another man shaking hands 54 years ago.

In the photo, Mausen's eyes lock with the man in a stare as tight as the handshake's grip. There's a wedding ring on Mausen's finger. The creases on his uniform are crisp. The Navy Cross shines from his breast.

In the frame there's also a written citation. It describes the actions of John E. Mausen, Hospitalman United States Navy, on 6 October 1952 on a hill called Seattle during the heart of the Korean War.

Chinese mortar shell fragments ripped his face. Small arms and grenade attacks rendered his left leg useless and reduced him to crawling around the fire-swept terrain. A third wound did not stop Mausen from treating the Marine Infantry Company under his care, refusing medical attention for himself until he could attend to all the casualties.

All that information is included in the citation.

What the writing can't comprehend was the blood that ran so thick it nearly blinded him, the mouthful of teeth Mausen spat out and the mind that doesn't remember how the body was rescued off the hill. It can't capture Mausen's frayed nerves on the front lines. His senses became so heightened that whenever he smelled garlic he threw a hand grenade in its direction; Koreans, Mausen said, smelled like garlic.

It doesn't discuss the World War II veteran who had a wife and children and died at Mausen's feet in Korea. It didn't say how Mausen refused to marry his high school sweetheart, Joan, because he was afraid he wouldn't come back from the war.

But that wedding ring on his finger took care of it when he returned. They've now been married 54 years.

Below the picture is another frame, this one containing seven medals including the Purple Heart and that same Navy Cross, the second-highest honor an American service member can earn, behind the Medal of Honor.

Only 39 Navy service members received the Navy Cross during the Korean War, according to the Navy's Web site.

The award makes Mausen the most-decorated veteran known in Collier County, according to Eddie Hartnack from the county veteran's affairs office.

If Mausen turns his chair to the right again, he will see a large framed certificate hanging on the wall that fronts his kitchen. The certificate is dated July 26, 2007.

Last summer he joined an exclusive club of 2,363 members who are a part of the Legion of Valor, an honor limited to those who have won the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross and Distinguished Service Cross.

Mausen has been eligible for the organization since he was awarded the Navy Cross but never joined.

But time and the interest of others has changed his perspective some.

Mausen, 77, still doesn't talk much about his time in the Navy, but the family is still learning to understand the magnitude of his service.

"What made you important is when you put on your uniform and put your life on the line," he said. "Anyone who is willing, that's what counts."

Back in the 1950s, Joan put the Navy Cross in their garage in New Jersey, not knowing the award's weight. A chance encounter with local Marine veterans a few years ago helped convince the Mausens to display John's honors more prominently.

Fourteen years ago, Mausen suffered a devastating stroke that affected much of his right side and left his speech slow and deliberate. Now, arthritis has ravaged his joints and made it more difficult to walk.

Mausen said showing his honors helps make sure his story is passed along to future generations.

"When you receive medals and you receive decorations, it's just part of the job," said Don Mason, a friend of Mausen's and a fellow Navy Cross holder who lives in San Antonio, Texas. "Why, when you get older you start thinking about it differently, like maybe it was something. You've accomplished something, and you're alive to tell about it when so many aren't here anymore."

If Mausen moves right in his chair one last time, he sees pictures of his children and grandchildren.

He had a party for his birthday recently and went out for dinner and to the Bass Pro Shop in Gulf Coast Town Center in south Lee County.

Seeing his three granddaughters grow up is now the highlight of his life and Joan's.